News

Plans revealed for GP services at Iwade

11 August 2017

NHS Swale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been working closely with colleagues from NHS England and the Care Quality Commission for a number of months after concerns were raised about the quality of GP services at Iwade Health Centre.

As a result of ongoing concerns and the findings of a recent CQC inspection, the CCG has come to a mutual agreement with Malling Health to terminate their contract early. Malling Health will not provide GP services in Iwade from 1 September 2017.

A local provider of GP services, DMC Healthcare, will be working with Malling Health with immediate effect until the end of their contract, and will then be providing GP services at Iwade Health Centre while the CCG procures a more permanent solution.

NHS Swale CCG Chair Dr Fiona Armstrong said: “We have been concerned for some time about the service being delivered at Iwade and disappointed that Malling Health has not been able to put in place a better service for patients.

“We have been working closely with NHS England and the CQC, and have negotiated an early end to the contract with Malling Health.

“Fortunately, we have been able to secure support from DMC Healthcare to ensure continuity of care for patients and we hope to see an improvement in services.

“Some staff may remain at the practice after the end of the contract, but working with DMC Healthcare.
“Staff at Iwade have been working hard to try to support patients in what have sometimes been difficult times and we are grateful for this. With the right support and staff levels, we believe DMC Healthcare can improve the patient experience at Iwade.”

Dr Armstrong added: “The CQC report released this week relates to an historic inspection carried out in June and is superceded by further action taken by the CCG and the CQC. A lot of work has gone on since June to get us to the point of a mutual agreement about termination of contract.

“Therefore the CQC inspection report came as no surprise to us and we are pleased that we have been able to agree a solution for local patients which will hopefully improve their experience of GP services in Iwade.”

DMC Healthcare, which will provide services at Iwade Health Centre under a 12 month contract, runs a GP practice in Sheppey which has been rated Good by the CQC.

The CCG is writing to all patients about the changes and is asking anyone concerned about the changes to contact the practice direct or the CCG on 03000 425100 or swale.ccg@nhs.net.

Further information:
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has this week released a report following an inspection at Iwade Health Centre in June. You can find out more about the report online.